An update on The RZA’s kung fu flick The Man with the Iron Fist

For a few years, raptor The RZA has been trying to apply his bottomless knowledge and love for old-school martial arts movies to a kung fu flick of his very own. It looks like he’s getting his wish.

In the few months since we last heard about THE MAN WITH THE IRON FIST, it seems that the budget has doubled from $10 million to twenty, and the project went from an indie to falling under Universal’s umbrella.

RZA, who co-wrote the script with Eli Roth, will also star and direct (after absorbing filmmaking wisdom from the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Jim Jarmusch).

According to Deadline, in the story “RZA will play the title character, a blacksmith who forges weapons for the inhabitants of a village in feudal China. They are forced to defend themselves, and before you know it, everybody is kung fu fighting.”

RZA previously said the tone would be “kung fu but not grindhouse” and “modern like BLADE”, and mentioned there would be “a lot of ladies” in the film.

Roth, who is also producing, had this to say: “I wrote the latest draft with him. While I was away shooting INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, RZA went to China to shoot test footage on his own, with all the choreography. It was very visual and I think he will bring to life a script that mixes kung fu with a spaghetti Western mindset and a hip hop influence. RZA has imagined every tribe, every fighting style, every costumed. He knows kung fu like I know horror.“